One of my hobbies is walking battlefields and that will probably be the major source of posts. Plus I will post about other things that spark my interest, from oddities found while researching to observations on the war.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

While in Oshkosh we also passed the Carl Schurz monument. We didn't stop for pictures as I knew I had some already to share. Clearly these pictures were taken during a summer visit. The monument has seen some wear so the inscription might not be too easy to read in these pictures but it does say "Our Greatest German American"

Schurz was part of the failed 1848 revolution in Germany and this is why he came to the United States. He settled in Wisconsin in 1855 and soon after entered politics as a Republican. He campaigned for Lincoln in the 1858 Senate race against Douglas. He made most of his speeches in German which raised Lincoln's popularity among Germans. At the Republican presidential convention in 1860 he led the Wisconsin delegation which voted for Seward but eventually did shift his support to Lincoln and was among the men who told Lincoln he had been nominated.

When the war began Lincoln made him ambassador to Spain and he convinced them not to support the South (although one wonders how much convincing they really needed). He returned to the states and was appointed a brigadier general in April 1862, he quickly after moved up to division command (in a corps led by Sigel) and was later promoted to major general. He fought at Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg before being transferred west for the Chattanooga campaign. He served in the army through the end of the war, he was Slocum's chief of staff for the Army of Georgia when Johnston surrendered in North Carolina.

After the war he continued in politics and also worked in newspapers. He was editor of the Detroit Post and later was editor, and proprietor of the Western Post in St Louis. Interesting side note, at the Western Post he gave Joseph Pulitzer his first job as a reporter. Schurz was elected Senator from Missouri, the first German so elected. He also was the Secretary of the Interior under Hayes. His performance there was a bit of good and bad.

Friday, March 27, 2009

My grandmother lives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Over the years I have stopped at the three Civil War monuments many times. But this time I wanted to stop at one to see how my son would react. This wasn't the same as wandering Shiloh for a whole day but if cannons in a park wouldn't interest him then I'd know nothing would. But as you can see he did like the cannons. He especially liked to hear that this was part of the Lincoln and John Brown thing we talk about all the time. He could finally touch something connected to the stories.

Camp Bragg was where the 21st and 32nd Wisconsin infantries got their first taste of military life. The 32nd had the good luck to miss most combat, serving some garrison duty then finishing up the war with Sherman in the Carolinas. The 21st got into quite a bit of combat, first at Perryville, through Chickamauga, Chattanooga and then with Sherman to the end. The 21st Wisconsin lost 112 men through battle and 183 by disease, while the 32nd Wisconsin lost 27 in battle and 254 by disease. By those numbers alone you can get a sense of the different type of service each saw.

Camp Bragg was behind this monument, this monument marks the northeast corner of the camp. It was named for Edward Bragg who was the lieutenant colonel of the 6th Wisconsin in the fall of 1862. He would become a brigadier general in June 1864.

The guns on the right used to be a matched pair. One was inscribed Stones River and the other was inscribed Chickamauga. The Stones River gun was sent to the battlefield and traded for another gun. The Chickamauga gun is still there, it is the one on the far right. In an odd twist of chance I am friends with the man whose great grandfather (Confederate General Alfred Vaughn) led the brigade that captured the Stones River gun. I've seen that gun at the battlefield but was too late to see it in Oshkosh.

All of the guns (except the one received in the Stones River trade) are marked "M. Greenwood Cincinati O[hio] 1862"

Thursday, March 26, 2009

While touring the Territorial Capital Museum I saw this little display for Fort Titus. This is considered the first battle of the conflict that ends slavery and ends in 1865. This battle was August 16, 1856 when anti-slavery men from Lawrence came to pro-slavery Lecompton to raise hell. Before they reached Lecompton they passed Fort Titus, which was not much more than the thick walled home of Colonel Henry Titus. The pro-slavery men at Fort Titus lost two killed and five wounded. A total of 34 men surrendered. The anti-slavery force lost wight wounded including Captain Henry Shombre who was mortally wounded.In the chapel part of the museum there was this painting of the battle, which was featured on the sign downstairs. This chapel is also where Dwight D. Eisenhower's parents were married in 1885.

After the tour we took the advice of the tour guide and went to Kroeger's for lunch, which was quite good. We had a variety of things, a sausage sandwich, a hot dog, bbq beef and ham salad (Kroeger's is the town's main shop and sells a bit of everything from books to lunch to liquor, the meat is all made on site as it is also a butcher shop). I would strongly recommend it for anyone else touring Lecompton, and as you will find out there really are no other options for lunch in the area. While there the proprietor also told us where to find the location of Fort Titus. So when we left I talked the car into one small final detour. He said the fort/house was where the propane storage is now. No markers commemorate the place but this is clearly the propane storage area. Where exactly the fort was I have no idea but apparently it was in this general vicinity.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

After talking my family into a side trip to Springfield I was sure my detours were at an end but somehow I also convinced them to stop at Lecompton, Kansas. There we saw Constitution Hall and the Territorial Capital Museum.

Constitution Hall is neat but didn’t really require much time. It has a good amount of exhibits on the days of 1850s. It is neat as a building because it is all original. You get to stand on the very wooden floors that the legislature stood on in 1855. You get to stand in the small rooms that they used. I love standing exactly where history happened and this is a beautiful spot to do it.

Originally there was a staircase on the outside of the building at the back (left side of the picture). It is now inside.A copy of the Kansas constitution that was written on the second floor of Constitution Hall. You can see the original floor boards under the display case. The original exposed studs.

A collage of the men who wrote the constitution. This is a remarkably large group considering the size of the room they worked in (next picture).

Then we went to the Territorial Capital Museum. It is also interesting but functions more as a city history museum than a Civil War era history museum. There are all sorts of other exhibits that the 1850s is just a small part of the collection.

In the basement is this display of a school history fair from 2003. The displays are still there. It was neat to see the work the students did.

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the Territorial Capitol. This view shows what it was supposed to look like. The money ran out early in the project so it was only finished to the bottom of the first floor windows. It was later finished but it is missing the columns and the fancy roof treatment. I guess I have to go there again to get that one picture.This diorama shows the town. The Territorial Capitol is the large building in the right center. If you click on the picture the larger version will reveal a #1 on the building. Constitution Hall has a #2 on it and is the white building directly to the left of the Territorial Capitol. It is two streets to the left, the street to the left of the street that goes to the bridge.

I’m glad I went to Lecompton but I doubt I’d go back unless I heard about some new exhibits or something similar. Or to get that one missing picture.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Later in the week we started to head home but had decided we would not drive straight through. Somehow I convinced my family to detour through Springfield, Illinois so I could soak up some Lincoln history. Time was of the essence so I decided to just see the new Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (I would only do the museum part).

It’s a great place. You follow the life of Lincoln from boy to death. Considering how much attention they devote to the Civil War his life before the war goes pretty fast. He’s just learning to read, then he’s a young lawyer and then he’s debating Douglas. While they might be going a bit fast its doubtful most people would have been too interested in his complete life story I understand the rapid rise they follow.

The White House years are laid out a bit oddly. First it’s a long gallery of how badly Lincoln was hated in the press. I guess they want to make that point really clear. Then they get into the sorrow he faced with losing a son. Then its on to the Emancipation Proclamation. They beat you over the head with this too, I guess for people uninitiated in the Civil War its necessary to bombard them with the message that people thought he didn’t do enough or did too much, that the proclamation freed no one or that it was just the first necessary step to the end. But to me it was a bit much, I know all those arguments. There was a gallery that had a life size replication of the cabinet meeting when Lincoln unveiled his plan for emancipation. That was pretty neat, in fact there are wax figures all over the museum that are laid out in nice life size dioramas. Then there is a war exhibit that has a map presentation of the war in 4 minutes. I’ve seen this before when the traveling Lincoln exhibit came to Denver last year. It also used to be on youtube but was removed. You can buy it in the gift shop but I thought $12.99 for a 4 min program was steep. If it had included copies of the other museum video I think I would have done it or if it had included images from the other exhibits since photography was prohibited in those areas. After that war room is a Gettysburg Address room, then a room that quickly brings the war to a close. Lincoln is killed and the funeral procession brings it to an end.

They show a movie called “Lincoln’s Eyes” that I almost passed up. I thought what new could I really learn. But the show was about to start and I had the time so I did it. It was a great presentation although I don’t think there was anything shown that I didn’t already know. My advice is to sit at the back of the auditorium. There are three screens that rotate new scenes, the center is obviously where the most action happens but the other two show enough different things that you really will want to sit near the back so you don’t have to turn your head as much. I think the visual presentation does a good job of showing the variety of sides of Lincoln. You should be forewarned that there are bright lights and the seats shake at times. This scared some of the little children in the theater and shocked me the first time it happened.

Springfield is amazing. It was a last minute addition to our trip so I hadn’t planned for it at all. I had no list of things to see. After the museum I ran through a few sites downtown like his law office and the Old State Capitol where he gave his House Divided speech. It was obvious that there is a ton to do in Springfield but I didn’t have the time so I grabbed brochures and hope to get back when I can devote 2 or 3 days as that’s what I think it will really require to do a good tour of Springfield.

The park across the street from the Lincoln Presidential Museum

The entrance to the pre-Civil War life of Lincoln exhibits

And the Lincoln White House entrance

Grant and McClellan sharing a cup of coffee. This was an odd choice of Union commanders to showcase as their styles were so different. But maybe that was the point of this choice.

The Lincoln family. That is John Wilkes Booth peering at Lincoln from over Mary Todd's shoulder.

Lincoln's law office across from the Old State Capitol. It wasn't open for tours when I was there, I probably didn't have time anyway.

The Old State Capitol

This style of Lincoln related marker is all over the downtown area. This one is for Lincoln's dentist but I drove past a ton of these. I bet there is a brochure somewhere that lists these as a walking tour. I bet doing this is a half day project in itself.

On the way into town I saw that Lincoln's house and the railroad depot were close by. I saw signs pointing the way to his tomb but knew I didn't have enough time to do that so I'm not sure how close that is to the downtown area.

Monday, March 23, 2009

As I stated in my last post I was on vacation last week. My grandmother’s 80th birthday was March 13th so we went back there to surprise her. My parents had flown out earlier in the week to give her a party but no one knew we were coming too. We drove through the night and got to Oshkosh, Wisconsin in time for the party and gave everyone a surprise they won’t soon forget. That weekend we also saw many of my cousins on my father’s side. They had met my wife and son last year at my grandfather’s funeral but this was a much better reunion.

Saturday we went to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. My son loves trains so he was in hog heaven. He got to climb on many old trains. There were not any trains from the Civil War but there were some interesting things to see anyway. Later that day we stopped at one of Oshkosh’s Civil War monuments, this one is for Camp Bragg that gave soldiers of the 21st and 32nd Wisconsin Infantry their first brush with the realities of being a soldier.

Later in the week we started to head home but had decided we would not drive straight through. Somehow I convinced my family to detour through Springfield, Illinois so I could soak up some Lincoln history. Time was of the essence so I decided to just see the new Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (I would only do the museum part). It’s a great place. You follow the life of Lincoln from boy to death. Springfield is amazing. It was a last minute addition to our trip so I hadn’t planned for it at all. I had no list of things to see. After the museum I ran through a few sites downtown like his law office and the Old State Capitol where he gave his House Divided speech. It was obvious that there is a ton to do in Springfield but I didn’t have the time so I grabbed brochures and hope to get back when I can devote 2 or 3 days as that’s what I think it will really require to do a good tour of Springfield.

Then we headed down the road towards home. We passed around St. Louis, which is an accomplishment as the last time I went through St. Louis I had to get a different car to complete the journey. The next morning I convinced everyone to stop at Lecompton, Kansas. There we saw Constitution Hall and the Territorial Capital Museum. These were both neat to see. I’m glad I went to Lecompton but I doubt I’d go back unless I heard about some new exhibits or something similar.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

I'm in Wisconsin this week for vacation so there will be no posts. When I return I'll have a few posts of Wisconsin monuments and the like but nothing while I'm away.

I had wanted to post this last week but the reason I'm in Wisconsin is that we came out to surprise my grandmother for her 80th birthday. My mother and father had come out earlier in the week to surprise her too. But my mother did not know that my family was coming as well. So we got to do a double surprise. But if I had posted here last week I was going to be gone my mother would have known our plans.

About Me

I am a Civil War nut. I graduated from the University of Colorado-Denver in 2001 with a BA in History. I'm always searching for more knowledge. I buy a ton of books, though space constraints have limited me of late, and I also download a ton of books. I'm always planning battlefield treks as I think these are important to really understanding a battle. Reading only does so much, walking the fields fills in the rest. And when I'm on a battlefield I really walk it. I like to go someplace and take a week to walk everything, get a feel for everything, and take a ton of pictures.